An update feature on the Russian News outlet “VC.RU” demonstrated that Bybit and OKX had delisted the peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions facilitated by the local banks. The announcement indicated that Tinkoff and Sberbank will no longer support the payment made to the crypto exchanges mentioned above .
The report came after the world’s largest crypto exchange by daily trading volume, Binance, had delisted five Russian banks. The Binance decided to cut ties with a Russian bank after the US Department of Justice accused the exchange of supporting peer-to-peer transactions and the evasion of International financial sanctions.
Russians Restricted from Peer to Peer Transactions
A Reserve Bank of Russia report indicated that peer-to-peer transactions generated over $430 million between October last year and March 2023. The bank report demonstrated that following the imposition of the Western sanctions, the Russians have shifted to crypto transactions, which are considered illegal.
The DOJ highlighted that the Binance P2P has removed the sanctioned banks Tinkoff and Sber from the exchange. After Binance made the changes, the crypto exchange forgot to do away with the brand names of the two banks, represented in green and yellow symbols.
The mistake made by the Binance team has created mixed feelings among the crypto community. An observation made by the Russian news outlet illustrated that Binance users from the sanctioned country still promoting the green bank through ads.
A review of the ad demonstrates that most Binance users from the sanctioned country prefer the green bank to other banks. The advert also demonstrated that other users preferred the standard bank and AK bars as payment options.
Crypto Exchanges Cut Ties with Russian Banks
Even though Bybit and OKX have not officially updated the community on the delisting of the sanctioned banks, the company website still supports receiving fiat to Russian bank accounts. The OKX’s recent publication revealed that the crypto exchange supports fiat transfers to the Raiffeisen and Standard Bank. Despite the delisting the US Treasury Department report shows that Sber and Tinkoff banks were not listed as sanctioned entities.
However the decision made by Binance, OKX and Bybit will negatively affect Russian residing abroad. The delisting of the sanctioned banks will limit the Russians from transferring their rubles to cryptocurrency through exchanges.
Binance Users React to the Delisting of Russian Banks
Last week, one of the Binance users could not purchase Tether using ruble through Tinkoff Bank. The user claimed that her Binance account was verified abroad and required transferring funds to Switzerland.
On Telegram, one of the Binance users urged the Switzerland customers to move through francs. A similar challenge was also experienced by the Kazakhstan users who could not transfer rubles.
A complaint from one of the P2P users who live in Kazakhstan admitted to having been moving money to the Russian Federation through Binance for almost a year. The user claimed to purchase USDT using rubles and sell them for Kazakh tenge. Additionally, in his chat with the Binance support team, the user lamented being unable to transact with Ruble from August 25.
